Useful, important change comes from major crises
Crises have a way of producing change or at least promoting it. The catastrophic horror brought on Europe by the Black Death changed the way buildings were constructed in Europe so that rats, a common vessel of plague-carrying fleas, could not as easily enter. The Black Death also forced the economy of Europe to change as many guilds needed to grant greater benefits to their workers to continue operations, and it prompted the questioning of Catholic authority that eventually culminated in the Protestant Reformation.
Other crises have encouraged and forced changes, both within the United States and beyond. The attacks of Pearl Harbor and September 11 changed how the United States intelligence and defense services conduct their missions. The Hindenburg disaster forever altered the perception of zeppelin travel and the use of hydrogen fuel. And following the successful Sputnik program by the USSR, the federal government invested heavily in educational pursuits of math and science so that a new generation of Americans could win the Space Race.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already forced American society to change, but more lasting changes are required. NATO should develop special task forces specifically focused on identifying potential disease threats. The promotion of scientific and medical learning must be implemented by the federal government through the creation of scholarships and educational shifts to provide the American public with more doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. This crisis is nowhere near over, but the pursuit of preventing a similar one should commence immediately.
Jackson D. Belva,
Re: “Pandemic disrupts initiatives,” April 9 news story
The coronavirus is the final straw that should push our legislature and governor to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow online initiatives and referenda.
We citizens should be able to carefully read an initiative or referendum’s language on our computers, consider its pros and cons, and then endorse it in the comfort of our homes. And we should not have to hire hundreds of paid circulators to physically gather over 100,000 signatures, as the corporate and special interests can do, just to get something on the ballot.
The technology is straightforward. The secretary of state would put all initiatives on its website, allowing anyone to read the full language and pro and con statements submitted by the state government, just as in the current Blue Book. (Special interest statements could also be allowed.) Then voters would sign in using their driver’s license number and last four digits of their Social Security number, just as they currently do to register to vote, and endorse one or more petitions. It’s that simple.
Regarding concerns that this would be “too easy” and there would be “too many initiatives,” the legislature could increase the number of required endorsements to a relatively high level, like 10% of voters in the last election.
The legislature could also make statutory initiatives more secure — and reduce the need for constitutional amendments — by requiring that any legislated amendments be consistent with the original initiative’s stated purpose (as Boulder does.)
Steve Pomerance,